What You Can Learn from a Photograph

 

 This photo of Blanca de Saulles is on the Library of Congress online catalog of photographs.  The photo is poorly labeled by the original photographer and came from the Bain News Service.  It is not officially dated, but I looked at a few clues and I've given it a tentative date of early 1913. 

First, the fact that it belonged to a U.S. news service means the photo was taken here in the states, not Chile. So it could only be after their marriage (Dec. 1911) and after they came here as a couple.  

According to immigration records, John and Blanca arrived on 2 separate occasions in 1912.  One, in January 1912 for a short visit before they returned to Chile by March. Two, in August when John was invited to help with the campaign to elect President Woodrow Wilson, and they stayed in the U.S. after that. 

Second, she is wrapped up in fur and dark colors which says to me it is not summertime.  

Third, this setting is not a hotel or temporary accommodation. She is quite settled in here. The piano has a pile of sheet music, where Blanca has perhaps been practicing her Chopin and Debussey.  The mantle over the fireplace has a framed photograph of her mother.  Most interesting is the dark ceramic Kewpie doll - which is a novelty item that hit the marketplace in 1912, so the January 1912 date seems less likely. 

Fourth, behind the Kewpie doll is what appears to be a clock, and there is a paper note hanging over the clock face. I have downloaded the highest resolution .TIFF possible and zoomed in, but it is impossible to read.  So, from having been a mother myself, my intuition tells me that the note might say, "Please do not wind the clock because its chiming wakes up the baby."  The placement of the Kewpie doll in front of the clock also supports my assumption, as a clue to the non-English (or non-Spanish) speaking household servants. 

I'm just going on my gut here, but I think it's early January or February 1913, which means Blanca is staying with her in-laws in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania soon after giving birth to John de Saulles Jr.